Newcastle University has appointed Anant Ambani as a professor of practice for sustainability, making the 31-year-old son of Mukesh Ambani the focus of immediate criticism. The appointment was announced for work in conservation, biodiversity protection, animal welfare and environmental stewardship, and it has already raised questions about the university’s judgment and the basis for the choice.
The move matters because Ambani is worth an estimated £90bn and is linked to Vantara, the 1,400-hectare private zoo he set up near his family’s oil refining facilities in Gujarat. Critics say the university’s choice puts academic credibility under pressure just as the role is meant to signal expertise in sustainability.
Ramachandra Guha on Newcastle University
Ramachandra Guha called it “a rather mystifying choice” and said he could name “at least 50, perhaps 100” people who were better qualified to receive the honour. He also said, “I wonder on whose advice Newcastle University has acted, and whether it did due diligence on what has and has not been done in these fields.”
Guha added that the appointment of Mr Ambani was “puzzling in the extreme” and “likely to adversely affect the university’s institutional credibility and intellectual standing.” Those remarks turned the announcement into a test of how the university weighs public profile against academic record.
Vantara and the criticism
Ambani’s profile is tied to Vantara, where conservation groups have previously raised questions about how some of the animals were sourced. The private zoo has never been found guilty of wrongdoing, but the scrutiny around it has stayed attached to the appointment because the role is framed around sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Vantara is reported to house more than 150,000 animals, including 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles. Ambani also hosted his pre-wedding celebrations there in 2024, after setting up the site near the family’s oil refining facilities in Gujarat.
Matt Perry and Lyla Mehta
Matt Perry said staff members had objected to the appointment on environmental grounds. Bhuvan Mangalore, who investigates the illegal wildlife trade and is completing a dissertation on Vantara at Anglia Ruskin University, reacted by asking, “Is this a joke?”
Lyla Mehta said, “as public funding for universities falls, there is a real danger that billionaire and corporate money begins to shape academia.” She added, “Universities are supposed to be places that question power and hold corporations to account, not give them academic legitim.”
Newcastle University said Ambani had made significant contributions to advancing a more sustainable future. What the university used to judge that contribution is not spelled out, and that leaves the appointment resting on a claim of expertise that critics have already challenged in public.
